The Rings Of Power. Wait, come back! It has the Tolkien seal of approval!

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

My only two real complaints so far are as follows:

-Massive time compression. 3000 years of the Second Age being crammed into the lifespan of Isidur (sp?) and his dad essentially (so…2 to 3 hundred years maybe?). It makes the War against Sauron feel very truncated and less desperate/horrible. I mean, Numenor was sunk for years by the time the Rings are made. How is Elendil (sp?) supposed to have a kingdom of men by the Last Alliance of Men and Elves then? Or the Rings the time to corrupt and turn the human lords into Wraiths?

-Galadriel. While she is tall and strong, plenty athletic and arrogant and even a fighter when she needs to be in the books, she is not what RoP has portrayed. This version has no tact, no diplomacy skills, no chill, no magic, and no real….gravitas. Cate Blanchett’s Galadriel comes off like an entirely different character to this one so far (and I can’t quite see the younger becoming the elder one at this point).

I mean, can you see this younger Galadriel (and also, where is Celebrion and their daughter exactly?) taking down Baradur with her power or standing toe to toe with Sauron spiritually?

The actress is doing fine, acting wise, but the character just feels like (to me) some original elf character they slapped Galadriel’s name too.

But otherwise, the show’s fine and I’m still watching. I really dig all the Dwarven stuff and Elrond so far.

[Captain Smith]

The Dwarves are the most interesting part to watch. I like seeing how they lived and their portrayal. Not so stuffy, bathrobes, pompous folks. I do wish, as I said before, they would have dropped the coarse faces.

[Scott Taylor]

The time compression was also present in the Lord of the Rings movies. In the books it took something like 17 years (!) for Gandalf to even figure out that Bilbo's ring was the one ring, through research. But in the movie it seemed like he just rode to Gondor and back in a week maybe tops. Even in the books, you just kind of read about time like that passing but it doesn't interrupt the story being told, its just mentioned.

Guess I'm not too nitpicky about how time is handled in the Rings of Power series. They could mention how much time has passed by using captions or some other cheesy thing, but it would just get in the way of the story and make you wonder about a lot of needless details.

[ChrisIII]

Been a while since I've read it but I think there's also this whole bit about Aragorn helping Gandalf track down Gollum for a long time, but in the movie it's given just a slight nod.

I think the Hobbit movies, although they added a lot of stuff, also made the Dwarf's imprisonment by the elves much shorter than the book implies.

[Frobisher]

The time compression was also present in the Lord of the Rings movies. In the books it took something like 17 years (!) for Gandalf to even figure out that Bilbo's ring was the one ring, through research. But in the movie it seemed like he just rode to Gondor and back in a week maybe tops. Even in the books, you just kind of read about time like that passing but it doesn't interrupt the story being told, its just mentioned.

Guess I'm not too nitpicky about how time is handled in the Rings of Power series. They could mention how much time has passed by using captions or some other cheesy thing, but it would just get in the way of the story and make you wonder about a lot of needless details.

I think at the end of Return Of The King it’s stated that the Hobbits have been away from the Shire for two years, but of course from watching it you’d be forgiven for thinking the whole thing took place over a fortnight.

[Catlady in training]

I really like it so far. I'm not a Tolkien purist, I've only read LOTR once almost 20 years ago and then Hobbit when those movies came out. But I loved both movie trilogies, even though I think that Hobbit should have been shorter.
So, I have no issues with any deviations from canon, in fact this series is almost making me want to read some of the other books, which I've always assumed to be too boring for me.

My favorite characters so far: Bronwyn - smart, reliable and she was very badass when fighting that orc in their house.
Other favorites: Arondir, Elrond, Galadriel. I like the friendship between Elrond and Durin, as I've always liked Legolas and Gimli's. But I get the feeling it's not going to last, with all this foreshadowing last episode about Elrond probably not keeping Durin's secret.

I've always loved the scenery and music of LOTR, so that has been a highlight for me.

I'm glad others enjoy it too, I was very concerned with all the targeted hate. People really suck.

[Frontier]

I have to admit I did not expect to see "Elves took our jobs!" in a medieval fantasy series.

Also why did they let Halbrand out? Was that a favor to Galadriel?

[Omega Alpha]

I have to admit I did not expect to see "Elves took our jobs!" in a medieval fantasy series.

Also why did they let Halbrand out? Was that a favor to Galadriel?

Well, if they're going to a war, and this guy is supposed to be a king, he could be useful.

[Kirby101]

Not bored at all, especially not close to what I am with HoD. I think the pacing is fine, they cut to another story just as you want to learn more, keeping you interested.
And I believe the Queen is going on an expeditionary voyage, to see what is happening and talk to the other Kingdoms. As far as we know Sauron has not attacked the Southern Kingdom yet.
We are not even sure where or who Sauron is.

[Tofali]

I have to admit I did not expect to see "Elves took our jobs!" in a medieval fantasy series.

Also why did they let Halbrand out? Was that a favor to Galadriel?

I'm guessing here, in exchange for his freedom he told Pharazon where Galadriel was heading

[ChrisIII]

I think at the end of Return Of The King it’s stated that the Hobbits have been away from the Shire for two years, but of course from watching it you’d be forgiven for thinking the whole thing took place over a fortnight.

Ditto with the Hobbit films. At the end it says Bilbo's been away a year and a month.

[Celgress]

I have to admit I did not expect to see "Elves took our jobs!" in a medieval fantasy series.

Also why did they let Halbrand out? Was that a favor to Galadriel?

Yeah, I groaned when that scene happened.

All I could think of was this infamous scene from South Park so at least I got a chuckle out of it.

[Jared]

I think at the end of Return Of The King it’s stated that the Hobbits have been away from the Shire for two years, but of course from watching it you’d be forgiven for thinking the whole thing took place over a fortnight.

With all the walking montages in the movies, I can't imagine anyone thinking it only transpired over a couple weeks.

The time compression was also present in the Lord of the Rings movies. In the books it took something like 17 years (!) for Gandalf to even figure out that Bilbo's ring was the one ring, through research. But in the movie it seemed like he just rode to Gondor and back in a week maybe tops. Even in the books, you just kind of read about time like that passing but it doesn't interrupt the story being told, its just mentioned.

It frankly worked a lot better in the movies. If Gandalf is suspicious that Bilbo has the One Ring, why would it take him over a decade to do the research?! In the movie, he rides to Minas Tirith, looks through to the library, and rides back. That makes sense.

The shoe apparently compressing centuries worth of events into just a few years, if that. Numenor hasn't even made colonies on Middle-earth yet? Are they gonna build Mina Tirith and Isengard overnight?

[ChrisIII]

^apparently part of that is also Gandalf tracking down Gollum with Aragorn and interrogating him, hence how he knows that Gollum was taken to Mordor and gave up the location of the ring. Also presumably how he set up plans for Aragorn to rendezvous with Frodo's party.

[Tofali]

The Elves are fading fast ( I didn't understand how and why mithril will stop it but then I thought the elven rings are used to heal and preserve when they get to it). It feels like someone is lying here though to push Elrond and guilt trip Durin to assist them. The Stranger's scenes were awesome and especially him using his powers. I enjoyed everything that happened in Numenor and especially with Galadriel even though I keep wishing she was taller. Pharazon's expanding Numenor's reach was Interesting so I'm guessing we won't see the last of it this season.

Southlands was interesting. I loved most of Adar's scene but most especially his last sunset. At the keep, Bronwyn's speech was unconvincing and Arondir moved the story forward by connecting the hilt of the sword with the keep they are trying to defend. Honestly I don't get this story - these ppl can hardly feed themselves how can they fight a horde of orcs?